Tiger at Forty

Happy New Years to my readers....yes, both of you.  

On the same day that Pete Dye turned ninety, Tiger Woods "celebrated" his fortieth birthday.  Less the Lion in Winter than the Tiger in Late Autumn, it seems to this observer... (h/t Shack for his roundup).

It being the slowest of slow periods, virtually everyone in the golf world with a byline had thoughts on the milestone.  There's almost too much to get our arms around, so we'll just take one of our typically idiosyncratic walks through the terrain.....as usual, we'll laugh, we'll cry and we'll spit out our coffee at least a couple of times.

We'll let Steve DiMeglio set the table with this succinct 'graph that sums up the State of the Tiger:

He last won a major in 2008. His world ranking as of Monday will be 416. It’s a stunning reversal for the player who holds the record for 623 weeks atop the world rankings. A player who once went 142 consecutive tournaments without missing a cut. A golfer who won four consecutive majors and won five or more tournaments in a year a record 10 times.

I see a buying opportunity....If he makes it back you can get him on the cheap in your fantasy pool.  Next up is Ewan Murray, and he steps in it a few times, starting with his lede:

Just as the dominant presence of Tiger Woods was impossible to foresee during his teenage years, so it would have taken an astonishing level of prescience to pinpoint his status when turning 40. Woods reaches that landmark age on Wednesday seeking to emerge from a mountain of golfing obituaries with his name returned to the summit. Regrets? He’ll have a few.

Sure, except that both were, in fact, predicted.... The former By Earl Woods most notably but not exclusively, and the latter by many including your humble correspondent.  Then this a couple of 'graphs later:

Once, on a July Saturday morning in St Andrews, hundreds wandered on to the Old Course from the town as word emerged that Woods was playing the closing stretch with a group of juniors. No other player can, or will, command such an audience. It is fascinating in itself that Woods’ on-course decline has not blunted the scale of attention towards him.

Ewan, you man the golf desk at The Guardian and you've never heard the story of Bobby Jones'  return to St. Andrews?  I hadn't previously heard that story of Tiger playing with youngsters, but the parallel to The Auld Grey Toon's embrace of Jones would have been a far better hook for your piece.  But see what you think of this bit:

In his last bulletin as a 30-something, he verged on the reflective. “My friends keep asking me how it feels to be turning 40 at the end of the month and my response is, ‘It depends when you ask me,’” he said. “Mentally, people who know me know I’m like a five-year-old. Physically, sometimes I feel old and sometimes I feel like a teenager. I don’t like the polar opposites of the two. I’d like to be somewhere in the middle where I feel 40.

A five-year old?  It's a tad disconcerting that he seems to think that's a positive....

Curmudgeonly James Corrigan has a meandering bu interesting take on the man.  First, this:

But as he waits for the spine to recover – naturally, this time as he has promised there

will be “no more procedures” – what Woods can do is immerse himself in his family life like he never has before, and although the cynics will doubtless sneer at the notion of the Great Philanderer turning into Superdad as he enters middle age, an anecdote from the Hero World Challenge shines some light on his new self. USA Today reported that, as they accompanied their fathers up the fairways, his two children, Sam, 8, and Charley, 6, were asked by a family friend whether they would rather be Lionel Messi or Tiger Woods. Both replied “Messi” and when pressed for a reason, Charley responded: “He’s still playing.”

I'm not sneering...  That's the power of raising kids and that's a seemingly great thing about Tiger, assuming the image we're being fed is at least somewhat real.  But I did sneer at the item just above, because if he's a good Dad that's the antithesis of being a five-year old.

Corrigan adds this take on His own assessment of his achievements:

“Number one, you have to go back to my first major win, which was the Masters in 1997. How I did it, winning by 12 strokes, was so special. And then winning four in a row and owning the Grand Slam, something no professional golfer has ever done. Third would probably be my 142-consecutive cuts-made streak. Consistency for a long period of time ... there’s a lot that goes into that. You have bad days, you have bad weeks, but to battle and endure and suck it up and get it done – I’m very proud of that one.” Just as he should be and just as golf still should be proud of its superstar; and be wishing him well on this day more than perhaps any other.

Though I think this is wildly optimistic:

If he can feel like a proper, fit 40-year-old then the history of golf shows that his career does not have to be over. Woods evidently still wants to compete, but has allowed himself the privilege of looking back. In 20 years, he redefined his sport, broke down some of its barriers and brought so much pleasure and awe to so many. It is intriguing to read what he judges to have been his finest achievements.

I could respond, but what say we use this as our segue into Christine Brennan's thoughts:

Tiger Woods turns 40 Wednesday. Forty, going on 70. 

It certainly seems that way what with all the injuries and surgeries and controversies and missed tournaments and headlines stretching across the decades since he appeared as a 2-year-old on The Mike Douglas Show in 1978. 

Happy Birthday to the oldest 40-year-old in sports.

That's really the issue, isn't it?   How's this for a surgical blotter?

This fact says it all: Tiger has had three surgical procedures on the same spot in his back in a span of 19 months. And it hasn’t been just the back: at various times, he has had knee, Achilles, leg, wrist and neck problems, including four surgeries on his left knee alone.

And even though I don't agree with her basic premise, this still took me by surprise:

And yet, a milestone birthday also comes with hope. Interestingly, even though the Masters always will be Tiger’s best shot at another major victory, he went oh-for-his-30s in Augusta. Unbelievable, but true. He last won the Masters in 2005, when he was 29. 

That’s a run of bad luck that none of us saw coming.

I'm not sure that she's using the concept of "luck" correctly here.

The previously unknown-to-me Mercer Baggs (is that a name or what?) goes into the wabac machine for this:

Tiger’s talked a lot over the last two decades. Did you know he has 1,364 transcripts on asapsports.com since 1996? That’s about 72 transcribed interviews a year during that span. Well more – over 200 more – than Phil Mickelson has given in a greater time frame. And that only counts when a stenographer was around. 

Back in the day, the early professional days, Tiger regularly came into Golf Channel studios. He did interviews. He even viewed tape. We could peek into the window of the library screening room and watch him watch footage of past majors, gleaning knowledge on an unfamiliar venue. We were told not to bug him, and we always kept a respectful distance. Think he drove a Mercedes. 

Tiger seemed relatable back then. Like, if you just introduced yourself that would lead to a chat. A chat would lead to more casual conversations. That would lead to some level of friendship, and maybe this superstar athlete would hang out with some regular folk throwing darts in a Winter Park pub and drinking bourbon two hours after close.

Probably too much of an ask, but we were kids. A bunch of young, single people, fresh out of college and beginning their professional careers, living in a fairly vibrant Orlando area. We saw the same in Tiger.

Don't remember that at all, but he's got video with Peter Kessler.  But I have to quibble with this:

That was 19 years ago. Just a brief history of time, but a lifetime ago. At that time, only Earl had a proper understanding of what his son would become. He likely nailed it with that 14 career major victory prediction. But he was a little off on that more-impactful-than-Gandhi-and-Buddha thing.

Why?  How many majors did those guys win?  Even combined...

It's a long but interesting piece as he incorporates thoughts from many of Tiger's friends (Marko, Cooksie and other usual suspects), but ultimately I'm less interested in who he sees in the mirror than  in whether there's anything left in the tank.

Jason Sobel rounds up some amusing quotes from fellow players about the milestone, the most relevant of which is this from Jack:

"Forty was just a number for me," he explained. "It really didn't make any difference. The hardest birthday I had was 65, because I knew 65 was the year I wasn't going to play anymore."

Well yes, but Jack was healthy his entire career.  Here via Bleacher Report is the complete list of players from the beginning of time that won majors in their forties:

AGE 48

Julius Boros, 1968 PGA Championship, Pecan Valley

AGE 46 

Jack Nicklaus, 1986 Masters, Augusta National
Old Tom Morris, 1867 British Open, Prestwick 

AGE 45 

Hale Irwin, 1990 U.S. Open, Medinah
Jerry Barber, 1961 PGA Championship, Olympia Fields 

AGE 44 

Lee Trevino, 1984 PGA Championship, Shoal Creek
Robert De Vicenzo, 1967 British Open, Royal Liverpool
Harry Vardon, 1914 British Open, Prestwick 

AGE 43 

Ben Crenshaw, 1995 Masters, Augusta National
Raymond Floyd, 1986 U.S. Open, Shinnecock Hills
Julius Boros, 1963 U.S. Open, The Country Club
Ted Ray, 1920 U.S. Open, Inverness
Old Tom Morris, 1864 British Open, Prestwick 

AGE 42 

Payne Stewart, 1999 U.S. Open, Pinehurst No. 2
Tom Kite, 1992 U.S. Open, Pebble Beach
Gary Player, 1978 Masters, Augusta National
Tommy Bolt, 1958 U.S. Open, Southern Hills
J.H. Taylor, 1913 British Open, Royal Liverpool
Willie Park Sr., 1875 British Open, Prestwick 

AGE 41 

Vijay Singh, 2004 PGA Championship, Whistling Straits
Mark O’Meara, 1998 British Open, Royal Birkdale
Mark O’Meara, 1998 Masters, Augusta National
Sam Snead, 1954 Masters, Augusta National
Henry Cotton, 1948 British Open, Muirfield
Harry Vardon, 1911 British Open, Royal St. George’s
Old Tom Morris, 1862 British Open, Prestwick 

AGE 40 

Jack Nicklaus, 1980 PGA Championship, Oak Hill
Jack Nicklaus, 1980 U.S. Open, Baltusrol
Ben Hogan, 1953 British Open, Carnoustie
Ben Hogan, 1953 U.S. Open, Oakmont
Ben Hogan, 1953 Masters, Augusta National
James Braid, 1910 British Open, St. Andrews
Old Tom Morris, 1861 British Open, Prestwick

This list tells us a few important things about Tiger's chances of adding to his fourteen majors.

No. 1 -  The list is dominated by great players.  As in all sports, the effects of age-related decline are apparent in the careers of all these gents, but the immortals start from a higher level.  Yes, there's always exceptions (O'Meara, Jerry Barber and De Vincenzo), but that's mostly a list of the greats of our game.  Since Tiger qualifies, this is cause for  optimism.... though it's the only conclusion that cuts in hat direction.

No. 2 - The List  is  Bottom-Heavy - Players that win in their forties are far more likely to win in their early forties.  I know, Duh!  But that sound you hear is a clock ticking, and Tiger starts his early forties on the DL.

No. 3 - Those Guys Stayed Healthy.  About the only guy on that list with a history of physical issues is Hogan, and that was the result of an ill-fated encounter with a bus.  Most of those guys features smooth swings that didn't put unnecessary strain on their bodies, and even a guy like Jack, whose swing was a bit more violent, stayed remarkbly injury free for decades.

No. 4 - Most of those are ancient history.  You can decide where you draw the line, but the sample size for the modern era is extremely small.  Considering that more than one of these took place on a twelve-hole golf course, the relevance is highly speculative.

It's hard not to conclude the the deck is stacked decidedly against the man....  But he was once Tiger Woods and if he could get healthy, quite the big "if", who knows?  That's what makes sports great.